Week 7 Results and Recap

Technically, this was the penultimate week of the “regular season,” but two teams played their last game of the season today, and two more will have their season end in Week 8. Here’s what went down:

3’S COMPANY VS. KILLER 3’S:

Well, Week 7 certainly started off with some fireworks. 3’s Company got a few nice looks off the team-oriented play they’ve been showing over the past two weeks early in the game – they got two layup opportunities off backdoor cuts and an open 3 on a well-designed play, but none of the three shots went down. It wasn’t looking pretty for Michael Cooper’s team, who only made one of their first 11 field goals.

From there, 3’s Company went into Beasley-ball. Fortunately for them, in the first half Beasley was not so much “hot from the field” as he was “a sentient inferno wrapped in skin.” At the end of the first half, 3’s Company had a 26-24 lead. Beasley had 21 of those points, and shot 7-13 from the field and 5-9 from three-point range.

Somehow, 3’s Company was able to give as good as they got, as Dominique Johnson was nearly as hot from the floor as Beasley was. He went 5-10 from beyond the arc for the game, and swished some long mid-range jumpers for good measure.

In the second half, Beasley-ball stopped working for 3’s Company, and the physicality of Charles Oakley and Frank Nitty’s team was too much to handle, especially since the Killer 3’s were making nearly everything they looked at.

After his 21-point first half, Beasley scored just 4 points on 2-4 shooting from the field and 0-1 shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. Meanwhile, the Killer 3’s had 11 offensive rebounds to only 9 defensive rebounds from 3’s Company, which is always tough to overcome.

The game ended in a fitting manner. Donte Greene missed a three, followed his own shot, grabbed the rebound, and dunked the ball home to make it 47-46 Killer 3’s. Then Mario Chalmers put a beautiful move on Frank Nitty and scooped it home on a spin move to make it 48-47 3’s Company, but he missed the free throw, and Julian Wright missed what would have been a game-winning put-back layup.

Finally, Dominique Johnson missed a three, but Frank Nitty grabbed the offensive board and fired it right back out to Johnson, who swished the open 3 to end the game 50-48 and send 3’s Company home for the season.

FIREWATCH:

Killer 3’s Coach Charles Oakley challenged a foul by Franklin “Frank Nitty” Session on Mario Chalmers. Chalmers tried to spin back to his right hand, Frank Nitty stayed at home and blocked the layup, NO BASKET.

2022 Records: Killer 3’s 5-2, 3’s Company 3-4 (ELIMINATED)

TRI STATE VS. POWER:

Power Captain Cuttino Mobley, who is 46 years young and dealing with an Achilles strain, can’t take over a game the way he used to. However, he has excelled in the latter part of the season as a “show starter” – he plays a few minutes at the beginning of each half, gets a three-pointer or two up, and gives Power a nice early boost if they go down. Against Tri State, he started off each half with a three. There’s a lot more salt than pepper in Cat’s beard now, but his stroke is still sugary–sweet.

From there, Power just wore down Tri State. Tri State, who depends on the three-pointer more than any team in the league, had their third straight rough game from beyond the arc, finishing just 4-16 from 3-point range. (They did have two “makes” from four-point circle, both courtesy of Justin Dentmon, but one was banked in and the other was, in reality, a layup – check FIREWATCH for the details.)

Power played tough inside and moved the ball as they always do, but the real story for them on offense was what Glen Rice Jr., the #1 pick in the 2022 BIG3 Draft, did. He finished with 23 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor and 3-6 shooting from beyond the arc, and also had a game-high four assists. He can make any basket from anywhere at any time, and fortunately for Power he had it all working on Saturday. The game-winner, like the game-winner in the 3’s Company vs. Tri State game, was a microcosm of the game itself – DaJuan Summers, who went 1-9 from the field and 1-5 from three on Saturday, threw up a desperation three-pointer. He missed the rim and the ball went into Glen Rice Jr.’s lap, and he put home the wide-open dunk to give Power the 51-36 win and keep their season alive.

I should note here that, due to the tiebreak situation, Tri State will be the one team that lost this week but will still move on to Week 8 – they’ve definitely been in a slide, but there’s still hope for Dr. J’s team.

FIREWATCH:

Power Coach Nancy Lieberman challenged a foul by Glen Rice Jr. on Justin Dentmon as Dentmon was taking a four-point shot. Rather than giving Dentmon a chance to make a “four-throw,” a four-point shot with no defender contesting him, Lieberman Brought the Fire. Unfortunately for her, Dentmon went all the way into his bag on Rice, slithering his way to the basket and making some beautiful pivot moves underneath the hoop to give himself an opening to make the four-point layup. BASKET GOOD.

Tri State Coach Julius Erving challenged a foul by DaJuan Summers on TJ Cline. Summers played excellent defense and forced Cline into a desperation heave, which he missed. NO BASKET.

Tri State Coach Julius Erving challenged a foul by DaJuan Summers on Nikoloz Tskitishvili. Skita shoved Summers under the basket and hit him with a beautiful up-and-under move before making the layup, BASKET GOOD.

2022 Records: Power 4-3, Tri State 3-4 (Tri State is NOT Eliminated.)

TRILOGY DEFEAT GHOST BALLERS, 50-35

This was an ugly game – the teams combined to go 4-32 from three-point range. The finesse-heavy Ghost Ballers do not like ugly games. Trilogy, who love to take it right at their opponents’ throats, love them.

So as you may expect, Trilogy were able to smash through the Ghost Ballers and punch their ticket to Week 8. Amir Johnson continued to be a monster inside. Trilogy outrebounded the Ghost Ballers 36-25. Earl Clark and Amir Johnson both finished with double-doubles – Clark had 16 points and 13 boards, while Johnson had 16 points and 14 boards. If that wasn’t enough, Isaiah Briscoe grabbed eight rebounds of his own.

Meanwhile, the Ghost Ballers didn’t really have an offensive Plan B when their outside shots wouldn’t fall.

They were much more reliant on the three than Trilogy was – 20 of their 46 shots came from outside, while only 12 of Trilogy’s 53 shots came from three-point range. They also went just 3-9 from the free throw line, and in the BIG3 leaving that many points (12) on the line is a major setback.

Simply put, the two teams played the type of game Trilogy loves to play and the Ghost Ballers hate to play, and the latter team’s season has now come to an end.

FIREWATCH:

Acting Coach James White challenged a foul by David Hawkins on Darnell Jackson. Hawkins stripped Jackson as he attempted a turnaround, NO BASKET.

Acting Coach James White challenged a foul by Isaiah Briscoe on Mike Taylor. Briscoe clamped down on Taylor hard, NO BASKET.

2022 Records: Trilogy 5-2, Ghost Ballers 3-4 (ELIMINATED)